What to do with old down comforter?

[iris lilies]

They also take old towels.

I got my last bath of towels, around 15, from the dumpster of dog shelter at the end of my street. They were clean and folded.

[Teacher Terry]

You probably need to ask the shelter. Here they frequently ask for towels and blankets.

[beckyliz]

I had old down pillows (like 1940's old). I cut them open and dumped the down in the far corner of the backyard. Thought some small critters might be able to use it to make nests. At the very least, it would eventually biodegrade.

[KayLR]

Beckyliz, that's a great thought.

[Tybee]

I have made pillows out of "broken" down comforters. Down pillows are very expensive.

[CathyA]

Is a down comforter a practical donation for animal shelters, then? Probably not.

Hmmm.....maybe not, since it could make a mess if the feathers got out. But if not, it sure would be comfy!

[jp1]

This thread reminds me of the time my mother and I decided to combine two down feather pillows into one. Thankfully we decided to do this outside. The one pillow we had after we'd finished this process was perhaps 10% larger than either of the previous two pillows. The amount of down feathers that were flying around our yard was impressive, and had us rolling on the ground laughing at our failed attempt at merging the pillows for hours.

[mschrisgo2]

Ok, so I experimented... I bought a dog bed cover, and stuffed it with my old down comforter. After about 5 minutes of dogs laying on it, it is completely flat and they are annoyed with it, as evidenced by much scratching and snuffling and then the puppy barking at it! Not working at all. So I too have a down comforter to dispose of somehow. The thrift won't take it, I asked when I dropped off another load yesterday.